California Pulse

  • Monsanto's $23M False Ad Deal Challenged At 9th Circ.

    Counsel representing a certified class of Missouri consumers urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to reverse Monsanto's nationwide $23 million settlement resolving consumer false ad claims over risks associated with its Roundup weedkiller, arguing that Monsanto hid the settlement from the Missouri plaintiffs and that the class is effectively "getting absolutely nothing."

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    BCLP Taps Slew Of New Office, Sector Leaders

    Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP on Wednesday elevated three longtime partners into leadership roles in its Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles offices, the firm said in an announcement that also named a spate of new sector leaders and a new co-head of its Seattle outpost.

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    Womble Bond Names 'Fearless Leader' As Chair, CEO-Elect

    Womble Bond Dickinson announced Wednesday that global finance partner Merrick Benn has been elected U.S. chair and CEO, for a three-year term effective Jan. 1.

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    Reed Smith Launches Emerging Technologies Practice

    Reed Smith LLP announced the launch of a practice group focused on helping clients with the legal complexities posed by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and fintech.

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    Buchalter Starts Fintech And AI Practice With New Seattle Hire

    Buchalter PC announced that it hired the former chief legal officer at mortgage-focused fintech company Sagent as a Seattle-based shareholder and chair of its newly launched fintech and artificial intelligence practice group.

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    Women In GC Roles Are Closing In On The Gender Pay Gap

    Though the gender pay gap persists, the difference in compensation between women and men at the general counsel level is narrowing — from 4.9% in 2023 to 4.3% in 2024 — according to a report out Wednesday.

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    Top Calif. Dealmakers Join Sullivan & Cromwell From Skadden

    Sullivan & Cromwell LLP said Wednesday it is bringing two "top Silicon Valley dealmakers" from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP to the firm, touting the pair's history with multibillion-dollar technology-related mergers and acquisitions.

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    Paul Weiss Establishes Center To Combat Hate

    Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP announced Wednesday that it has launched the Center to Combat Hate, an organization that will partner with civil rights groups and educational institutions to use litigation in tackling violence and intimidation driven by hate.

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    Nvidia GC's Comp Climbed Past $11M Last Fiscal Year

    Silicon Valley-based tech company Nvidia's general counsel earned more than $11 million in compensation during the last fiscal year, which marks a nearly $2 million increase from the previous one, according to a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

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    Winston & Strawn Adds Buchalter IP Atty As Trademarks Lead

    Global firm Winston & Strawn LLP has hired a Buchalter PC attorney to bolster its intellectual property practice and lead its global trademark prosecution and counseling efforts.

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    Spencer Fane Adds Another Hopkins & Carley Atty In Calif.

    Spencer Fane LLP has hired another attorney from Hopkins & Carley who has spent nearly the entirety of her more than 30-year career with her former firm, and most recently helped lead its litigation department, according to a recent announcement.

  • Calif. Bar To Weigh New Virtual Bar Exam To Cut Costs

    The State Bar of California's board of trustees is expected to consider replacing the National Conference of Bar Examiners' exam and new licensing test with its own state bar exam that could be taken remotely in order to cut up to $4.2 million in costs annually, according to a memo posted online in advance of this week's board meeting.

  • Justice Gonzalo Martinez, Judge Natalie P. Stone and Tara Desautels

    Ex-Squire Patton Atty Among Latest Calif. Judges Sworn In

    California got two new appellate court judges and elevated another one on Tuesday morning as a state commission unanimously approved and swore in the three people nominated by Gov. Gavin Newsom, including a onetime Squire Patton Boggs LLP attorney.

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    Legal Insurers See 'All-Time High' In Price Tag Of Claims

    Some of the nation's largest legal insurance companies are reporting an unprecedented rise in "claim severity," according to survey data released Tuesday, with 11 of 13 insurers reporting paying claims in excess of $100 million in the past two years.

  • Tech Biz Helm360 Launches Legal Partner Alliance Program

    Helm360, an American legal IT provider, has launched a program offering law firms a one-stop shop for "essential" products, services and expert knowledge.

  • DoorDash's $664K Misclassification Deal Gets Final Approval

    A California federal judge gave the final sign-off on a $664,000 settlement ending claims that DoorDash misclassified delivery drivers as independent contractors and failed to pay minimum wage, finding the terms to be a fair resolution of the dispute.

  • Venable Brings On K&L Gates Litigator In LA

    Venable LLP is expanding its West Coast team, announcing Monday it is bringing in a K&L Gates LLP litigation ace as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

  • Dunn Says Calif. Bar Shouldn't Have Brought Ethics Charges

    Ousted California State Bar executive Joseph Dunn has moved to dismiss his ethics case over alleged lies regarding expenditures for a trip to Mongolia, arguing the charges should have never been brought as a prior investigation regarding the expenditures closed in 2014 and found no grounds to take disciplinary actions against him.

  • Chevron Says $268K Fine For Fake News Clips Must Stand

    Chevron on Friday urged the Ninth Circuit to summarily toss a Seattle attorney's appeal challenging an order that he pay $268,000 for filing a fake newspaper article as a court exhibit, saying the attorney is raising arguments that have already been rejected.

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    Haynes Boone Lands Procopio Life Sciences Leader In Calif.

    Haynes and Boone LLP announced Monday it welcomed to the firm's intellectual property practice a new partner who most recently led Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP's life sciences group.

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    FinTech Atty Moves From R3 To BakerHostetler In SF

    BakerHostetler has added to its San Francisco office a former counsel and head of government relations at digital finance company R3, bolstering its business practice, its blockchain technologies and digital assets team and its financial services team, the firm announced Monday.

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    Ogletree Opens Workplace Violence Prevention Group

    Management-side labor and employment firm Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC is launching a new practice group of more than two dozen attorneys focused on workplace violence and threat assessment and response, the firm recently announced.

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    Pierce Law Shutters, Attys Join Pessah Law Group In Calif.

    Entertainment law firm Pierce Law Group LLP has shuttered its doors just over 10 months after the death of its founder David Albert Pierce, with key personnel joining Beverly Hills, California, boutique Pessah Law Group PC.

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    Buchalter Further Expands New Latin American Practice In LA

    Buchalter PC is expanding its Latin America practice, bringing in a corporate whiz most recently with his own firm as a shareholder in its Los Angeles office.

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    Husch Blackwell Hires First-Ever CPO From Software Co.

    Husch Blackwell announced the appointment of its inaugural chief people officer on Monday, welcoming an executive who held that same role at software development company ConnectWise.

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Expert Analysis

  • How Law Firms Can Welcome And Celebrate Autistic Lawyers Author Photo

    As the U.S. observes Autism Acceptance Month, autistic attorney Haley Moss describes the societal barriers and stereotypes that keep neurodivergent lawyers from disclosing their disabilities, and how law firms can better accommodate and level the playing field for attorneys whose minds work outside of the prescribed norm.

  • Law Firm Tips For Evaluating AI And Machine Learning Tools Author Photo

    Many legal technology vendors now sell artificial intelligence and machine learning tools at a premium price tag, but law firms must take the time to properly evaluate them as not all offerings generate process efficiencies or even use the technologies advertised, says Steven Magnuson at Ballard Spahr.

  • A Call For Personal Accountability On Diversity And Inclusion Author Photo

    While chief legal officers are increasingly involved in creating corporate diversity, inclusion and anti-bigotry policies, all lawyers have a responsibility to be discrimination busters and bias interrupters regardless of the title they hold, says Veta T. Richardson at the Association of Corporate Counsel.

  • Learning How To Code Can Unleash New Potential In Lawyers Author Photo

    Every lawyer can begin incorporating aspects of software development in their day-to-day practice with little to no changes in their existing tools or workflow, and legal organizations that take steps to encourage this exploration of programming can transform into tech incubators, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Supporting Associates Amid Pandemic's Mental Health Toll Author Photo

    As junior associates increasingly report burnout, work-life conflict and loneliness during the pandemic, law firms should take tangible actions to reduce the stigma around seeking help, and to model desired well-being behaviors from the top down, say Stacey Whiteley at the New York State Bar Association and Robin Belleau at Kirkland.

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    Ask A Mentor: Should My Law Firm Take On An Apprentice? Author Photo

    Mentoring a law student who is preparing for the bar exam without attending law school is an arduous process that is not for everyone, but there are also several benefits for law firms hosting apprenticeship programs, says Jessica Jackson, the lawyer guiding Kim Kardashian West's legal education.

  • The Importance Of Client Engagement In Law Firm Innovation Author Photo

    As clients increasingly want law firms to serve as innovation platforms, firms must understand that there is no one-size-fits-all approach — the key is a nimble innovation function focused on listening and knowledge sharing, says Mark Brennan at Hogan Lovells.

  • The Unique Challenges Facing Women-Owned Law Firms Author Photo

    In addition to establishing their brand from scratch, women who start their own law firms must overcome inherent bias against female lawyers and convince prospective clients to put aside big-firm preferences, says Joel Stern at the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms.

  • The Pursuit Of Wellness In BigLaw: Lessons From My Journey Author Photo

    Jane Jeong at Cooley shares how grueling BigLaw schedules and her own perfectionism emotionally bankrupted her, and why attorneys struggling with burnout should consider making small changes to everyday habits.

  • Why We Must Recruit And Advance More Black Prosecutors Author Photo

    Black Americans make up a disproportionate percentage of the incarcerated population but are underrepresented among elected prosecutors, so the legal community — from law schools to prosecutor offices — must commit to addressing these disappointing demographics, says Erika Gilliam-Booker at the National Black Prosecutors Association.

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    Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Deal With Overload? Author Photo

    Young lawyers overwhelmed with a crushing workload must tackle the problem on two fronts — learning how to say no, and understanding how to break down projects into manageable parts, says Jay Harrington at Harrington Communications.

  • A Scientific Path For Improving Diversity At Law Firms Author Photo

    Law firms could combine industrial organizational psychology and machine learning to study prospective hires' analytical thinking, stress response and similar attributes — which could lead to recruiting from a more diverse candidate pool, say Ali Shahidi and Bess Sully at Sheppard Mullin.

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    Ask A Mentor: How Can Associates Seek More Assignments? Author Photo

    In the first installment of Law360 Pulse's career advice guest column, Meela Gill at Weil offers insights on how associates can ask for meaningful work opportunities at their firms without sounding like they are begging. 

  • Legal Sector Regulatory Reform Is Key To Closing Justice Gap Author Photo

    In order to improve access to justice for those who cannot afford a lawyer, states should consider regulatory innovations, such as allowing new forms of law firm ownership and permitting nonlawyers to provide certain legal services, says Patricia Lee Refo, president of the American Bar Association.

  • How Attys Can Guard Against Rising Settle-And-Sue Claims Author Photo

    Certain precautions can help lawyers avoid post-settlement malpractice claims and create a solid evidentiary defense, as settle-and-sue lawsuits rise amid pandemic-induced dispute settlements, say Bethany Kristovich and Jeremy Beecher at Munger Tolles.

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